EcoCalculator for Residential Assemblies Revision History

The current version of the EcoCalculator for Residential Assemblies is v1.21

About Version 1.21

September 2012: Version 1.21 has been released to reflect the updates and enhancements to its parent software, the Impact Estimator version 4.2.0140, details of which can be found here.

Version 4.2.0140 was released to reflect a database update to polyisocyanurate foam insulation manufacturing data and a very minor update to the resource use table that affected all other EcoCalculator assemblies by less than 0.5%

About Version 1.2

September 2012: Version 1.2 has been released to reflect the updates and enhancements to its parent software, the Impact Estimator version 4.2.01, details of which can be found here.

Version 4.2.01 of Impact Estimator discontinued the use of the Weighted Resource Use summary measure, and hence it is no longer available in the EcoCalculator.

Log home exterior walls, milled and hand crafted, have been added as assemblies, in the Vancouver location only.

About Version 1.1

January 2011 : Version 1.1 has been released to reflect the updates and enhancements to its parent software, the Impact Estimator (versions 4.1.12 and 4.1.13), details of which can be found here. Version 4.1.12 of Impact Estimator introduced a change in the energy consumption summary measure, from "Primary Energy Consumption" to "Fossil Fuel Consumption", and as such, EcoCalculator for residential assemblies now presents the "Fossil Fuel Consumption" summary measure.

Two bugs have also been corrected:
In both the “Foundations & Footings” page and “Columns & Beams” page, the total square footages were not being added correctly and have been fixed. This error did not affect the LCA results in the Summary page, it only affected the column totals (and therefore the percentage contribution of each individual assembly) on the assembly pages themselves.

About Version 1.0

November 2010 : A Residential version of the EcoCalculator was developed to allow assessment of single family residential buildings, whether detached, semi–detached, or row houses. Version 1.0 is the initial release.

All assemblies were assumed to be used in single family residences with a 60–year life span. Assembly structures were modeled on a building with a 30’ x 30’ footprint, or 900 square feet. A 20% window to wall ratio was assumed.

The biggest difference between the Commercial and Residential versions is the number of choices with regard to roof and floor structures. In general there are fewer choices in the Residential version, reflecting the realities of constructing single family residences. However, asphalt shingles are an area where there is more choice; in the Commercial version there is one type of asphalt shingles, while in the Residential version there are four to choose from. The regional options, assembly categories, environmental performance measures and generation of results are the same.